Following the success of a number of recordings made by the
Munich-based Henschel Quartet any new release from them is cause
for celebration. I made their Mendelssohn’s complete string
quartets on Arte Nova/BMG my 2005 Recording of the Year.
Their world première Neos CD of Bruch’s String
Quintet coupled with Mendelssohn String Quintets
was on my 2009 best of year list. Their Manfred Trojahn album
was one of my best of year selections for 2011. Since making
this recording the line-up has changed with second violin Markus
Henschel leaving in 2010 to be replaced by Daniel Bell.

The Henschel are doing sterling work championing Schulhoff’s
music.Prague-born Schulhoff was one of many victims of
the Nazi holocaust killed at the Wülzburg concentration
camp, in Bavaria. Virtually forgotten for many years he is beginning
to receive the recognition that a major twentieth century composer
deserves. I attended a marvellous Henschel performance of Schulhoff’s
String Quartet No.1 at the Hoylake Chamber Concert Society,
West Kirby in the Wirral as part of their 2011 UK tour. That
evening they certainly made a compelling case for the score
and I am delighted that they have recorded it.

Probably presenting some minor challenges for the general listener
the rewards of the Schulhoff are well worth the extra degree
of concentration. The Henschel’s playing of the second
movement Allegretto con moto held the attention with
an iron grip. I was struck by the myriad fascinating and often
ethereal technical effects together with contrasting melodies
ranging from the glorious to the grotesque. Vitally rhythmic,
Slovak folk rhythms suffuse the third movement Allegro giocoso
alla slovacca which is played with supreme confidence by
players who savour every note.

In the mid-1980s the Sibelius family donated a number of the
great composer’s manuscripts to the Helsinki University
Library including some relatively early works for string quartet.
In spite of this Sibelius’s chamber music still centres
around Voces Intimae quartet, Op. 56. Written in 1908/09
and cast in five movements it has a symphonic feel. Sibelius
wrote the phrase ‘Voces intimae’ (Intimate
voices) in the manuscript score above the slow third movement.
I was especially impressed with the Henschel’s playing
of the opening movement Andante - Allegro molto moderato
which evinces a squally character with passages of uncertain
calm. The heart of the work is the intense third movement Adagio
di moto with the Henschel squeezing every last drop of emotion
from this melancholic writing. Like a lurid dance a mood of
restless agitation colours the Finale. Played at breakneck
speed yet with splendid control the writing takes on a furious
and reckless quality.

Janáček’s String Quartet No.1 was written
very quickly in 1923. He was inspired to write the score by
Tolstoy’s dark and disturbing 1889 novella The Kreutzer
Sonata. In the opening Adagio - con moto which contains
abrupt switching from unsettling agitation to a kind of phoney
calm the Henschel play with depth and intelligence. The music
of the third movement Con moto (Vivo. Andante)
is heavily stamped with aggression and torment bordering on
the brutal. The Finale just weeps tragic tears yet leaves
faint glimpses of hope.

With this meticulously prepared programme the Henschel explore
the darker often melancholy side of chamber music. I hope that
for a future CD these talented performers will turn to more
uplifting compositions such as quartets from Haydn and Mozart.
The recording is clear if a touch close.

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